TSTC student from West sees internship become job in Lubbock

(WACO, Texas) – Trinati Montes, of West, is in her fifth semester in the Biomedical Equipment Technology program at Texas State Technical College in Waco.

The West High School graduate was hired last December by SPBS Inc., a clinical equipment services provider located in Lubbock, as a medical equipment technician. She is using the spring semester to complete her program-required internship before she graduates this spring.

What got you interested in the Biomedical Equipment Technology field?

During my senior year of high school, I went back and forth with what I wanted to do. My dad graduated from TSTC, and he got me interested. My co-worker from when I worked in West and his older brother are doing biomedical work as well. I did some research on the program and thought it sounded like so much fun. I am a hands-on learner. It just feels right and feels like what I was meant to do.

How did you get your internship?

I downloaded a lot of apps to help me find jobs that were either looking for apprentices, interns or employees. I found SPBS’s job opening on Indeed.com. Since I had my resume on the app, I submitted that and answered a few questions.

I got a call from them and we scheduled a phone interview, and later we did a video call. I did not visit SPBS while applying for the job, but I drove by the building when I was looking at apartments in Lubbock.

What is your internship like?

I work eight hours a day, with an hourlong lunch break on Mondays through Fridays. You have the ability to do repairs at the shop, but I go to hospitals, clinics, and recently I went to a veterinary clinic. I schedule inspections and repairs and do paperwork. I travel a lot for my job, but most of the places I have been have been around a two-hour radius of Lubbock. Sometimes I have gone to New Mexico to work. It’s a new challenge every day and puts your mind to the test to think outside the box when a problem arises.

Why should more women pursue the biomedical equipment technology field?

In my section, I will only graduate with one other female. It is weird, though, because this is not a man’s job. You work on medical equipment. Everyone is capable of doing the same thing as the other. It is important to have more females in the field. We are viewed as weak or dependent on other people. That is not me; I like to do things on my own. Females should not be intimidated.

Medical equipment repairers in Texas can make a yearly median salary of more than $49,000, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s CareerOneStop website. Texas will need 4,700 workers by 2028, according to the agency.

TSTC offers an Associate of Applied Science degree in Biomedical Equipment Technology at the Harlingen and Waco campuses.

For more information, go to tstc.edu.